FTSE 100 movers: Miners rally; Auto Trader hit by downgrade

dl anglo american mining miners inspection finland ftse 100 — Anglo AmericanCompany photo / Anglo American

London’s FTSE 100 was up 0.2% at 7,694.52 in afternoon trade on Tuesday.

Miners Antofagasta, Anglo American and Rio Tinto all rallied as based metals prices rose after Chinese leaders pledged more economic support on Monday.

Croda International gained despite posting a drop in half-year profits and revenue.

Unilever was higher after the consumer goods giant said it had delivered a 3.3% rise in interim earnings, driven by higher prices, although it expects underlying price growth to moderate through the year. Underlying operating profit came in at €5.2bn as underlying sales grew 9.1% to €30.4bn.

On the downside, Compass Group fell even as the catering company backed its full-year outlook and posted an increase in third-quarter organic revenue. In an update for the quarter to the end of June, Compass said organic revenue rose 15%. Revenue in North America was up 14%, while Europe and Rest of World revenue jumped 17% and 20%, respectively.

Auto Trader was knocked lower by a downgrade to ‘underweight’ from ‘neutral’ at JPMorgan Cazenove, which cut its price target to 555p from 630p as it pointed to easing momentum in the core business and an unattractive valuation.

The bank argued that Retailer revenue momentum will likely slow, putting downside risk to consensus estimates for flat forecourts, and said it expects upselling and ad-on products to evolve at a slower pace.

It also said that stress testing new Digital Retailing initiatives - Deal Builder/Autorama - it concludes meaningful scale (at least +20% uplift to group profits) would require "rather stretched" assumptions.

FTSE 100 - Risers

Antofagasta (ANTO) 1,634.50p 5.15%
Croda International (CRDA) 5,952.00p 5.12%
Anglo American (AAL) 2,501.00p 4.62%
Unilever (ULVR) 4,203.50p 4.60%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 5,376.00p 3.84%
Prudential (PRU) 1,091.50p 3.61%
Smith (DS) (SMDS) 299.50p 2.11%
Admiral Group (ADM) 2,270.00p 1.93%
Mondi (MNDI) 1,330.00p 1.88%
Kingfisher (KGF) 247.10p 1.69%